Troublesome Flowers
by fanofthisfiction
Summary: Sometimes when trying to convey a message, it's just best to say the words. Chapter One: Submitted for fanofthisfiction's January 2019 'Misunderstandings' Show Me the Love Challenge. Chapter Two: Submitted for fanofthisfiction's 2019 Show Me the Love Proposals Challenge.
1. Chapter 1: The prickly cactus

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

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First, I wish to thank all of those who surprised me this holiday with gift fics. I was so honored and delighted with all of the special stories and thoroughly enjoyed each and every one. They are now tucked away in my favorites stories section and your surprises are a gift I will never forget! Thanks so much!

Secondly, for all those reading out there, I want to take this time to wish you a Happy New Year! I hope the holidays were a lot of fun for you and the year ahead is a good one.

And now, as promised, here is my submission for my 2019 'Misunderstandings' Show Me the Love Challenge. I hope you enjoy this story and venture to check out the other entries, all of which will be added to my C2 account as soon as I am able. Finally, please don't forget to share your wonderful positive constructive criticism for all the stories you read. It's a gift that gives back in more ways than you know!

And now onto my story...

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 _What a drag._

The Shadow Wielder remembered being more than irked this day even existed, and being that it followed right after the December holidays, he was certain it was the creation of some woman trying to add romance to her hum drum life after the hustle and bustle of the holiday season was all said and done.

After a few moments of contemplation though, he let it go. It was bothersome, but not to the point he would waste a minute more of his precious time worrying over it. Besides, the day was good for Ino's flower shop, and he guessed that since the War ended, it was a nice way to bring people together with a simple gesture.

 _Simple_? Gads, he felt like smacking himself for even thinking that _._ There was nothing simple these days about being a young adult. In fact, life just seemed to get more complex the older he got.

Honestly, it wasn't too long ago, Shikamaru saw himself as just a normal guy, who wanted a simple life. He envisioned his future settling down with an average girl, living a relatively unremarkable life with her, his daughter, and his son, and spending countless hours watching the clouds in his free time.

So, it almost seemed surreal, fate would have other plans.

These days he wasn't sure when the last time he had a free moment to himself, and he would have never predicted the 'average girl' he was going to fall for, would be the fiery Kunoichi from the Sand, the noble sister to the Kazekage of all people!

Initially, he believed he didn't have what it took to fall in love with anyone. So when the Sand Kunoichi (with a little sass) caught his eye, and showed some interest in him, it simply dumbfounded him that ordinary things he would normally never have the energy to do, suddenly became completely doable!

Furthermore, it astonished him that mutual feelings actually developed between them and eventually grew into something he never imagined. Their love and secret courtship involved tons of extra work, but he couldn't bring himself to complain. Temari was the best thing to ever happen to him, and although he wasn't exactly prone to being romantically inclined, she made him want to make the extra effort just to assure her that his love was real and she was the only one for him.

Unfortunately, as smart as he was, Shikamaru didn't realize, inexperience in the romance department would one day become a huge problem. Temari was like a Princess to the villagers of the Sand. They were a cautious group of people after having been double-crossed by foreigners in the past, and everything he did with their precious Temari was under intense scrutiny. As a result, he was mindful to dress properly, bow in a socially acceptable way, and always walk the appropriate distance away from her in public. To his credit, his behavior was slowly starting to work in his favor. So of course, just when things were going well, he could hardly believe his announcement that he wanted to officially court her on Flower Day would almost lead to an international incident.

 _What a buffoon I was_ he thought...

Now, it may be said, Shikamaru was traditionally one to hide in the shadows, but on that one fateful day in Suna, one tiny misstep led to him being unexpectedly harshly thrust into the spotlight.

Cringing, he remembered the incident like it was yesterday...

Alone on a bench, the sole Konoha Shinobi awaited his fate. It was impossible not to tell how upset everyone around him seemed to be.

"Nara," an older Shinobi by the name of Baki crossly called out. "They will see you now," he stated firmly, opening the heavy door.

Shikamaru gulped. The sudden cold shoulder and the unmistakable look of mistrust in the man's eyes had him worrying. _Was this the beginning of the end?_ He hoped not.

"Have a seat," the Kazekage said, voice serious and grave as ever as he slid a picture of the offending plant that was seized and placed it in front of the Shadow Wielder.

"This was sent from you, we presume," Gaara clarified.

By the way it was said, the correct response was 'no,' but the truth of the matter was, it was indeed from him. He tensed, but he knew it was pointless to try to hide that fact. Gaara clearly already knew the answer, and he supposed it was only right to confess. Better to be honest than to be caught in a lie.

Clearing his throat, he gave his answer: "Yes."

Temari immediately stiffened and the confusion and hurt on her face suddenly threw him for a loop and instantly stabbed him through the heart.

 _Gads. What was this all about?_ he wondered. _Why the long face?_

"Why you..." Kankuro burst out but was silenced by the hand Gaara extended out to hush him.

"What was your intention in sending THIS to her?" Gaara questioned, voice as smooth as steel, pointing to the picture thrust before him, a photo of the lone cactus plant he sent in a decorative clay pot.

"I..." Shikamaru knew he had to select his words carefully. He wasn't sure what this interrogation was all about, but by the tone of things, not only his relationship with Temari was being questioned, but somehow his life seemed to be on the line too. He gazed over at the Sand Kunoichi trying to get a sense what this was all about, but nothing was given away. Eyebrows creased together, he desperately attempted to grope for facts as he tried to stall.

"In Konoha, January 19th is International Flower Day," Shikamaru began.

"Same here," Kankuro concurred.

 _Still confused, he gathered they at least had this in common._

"Traditionally, flowers are sent," Shikamaru continued, hoping to coax more information out of someone present, but he was only met with stonewalling silence. He concentrated hard, trying to read Temari, but nothing but hurt and anger seemed to reside in those beautiful green eyes of hers. Uncomfortably he floundered to come up with more.

"So why send the cactus?" Kankuro finally bit out. It was obviously on everyone's mind and he was getting ready to clobber the Nara for hurting his sister like this.

"I..." Shikamaru nervously raced to find the right thing to say. "This year, my teammate suggested we send a meaningful message with a flower to our significant others," he began, but this only seemed to further anger the three in front of him.

"Message received loud and clear," Kankuro threatened, as Shikamaru was taken aback.

"But..."

He wanted to ask what was so terrible about sending the cactus and yet it was deadly apparent something in the gesture was terribly wrong.

"Temari?" he croaked, but she only turned away.

"Look. I'm sorry," he offered. Not quite knowing what he was sorry for but knowing without a doubt he did something seriously wrong. "But I'm lost here. I sent Temari the cactus as a symbol that our love would endure despite the long distance that exists in our relationship," Shikamaru admitted. "In old times, at least in Konoha, it was taboo to speak of your feelings directly, and the cactus plant was sent to a person if you had strong feelings for them, to indicate to her you felt you had the kind of love that endures. I'm sure you've guessed, I'm not good when it comes to words, so I thought I'd send the message with this plant so I could share that message with her."

With that, Temari's head shot up, clearly flabbergasted.

"What?" Kankuro sputtered.

Temari's serious face then slowly morphed into a smile, and looking over at her stunned brothers, the grin only grew. Before she knew it, outright laughter escaped. Kankuro wasn't far to follow.

"Doofus!" he exclaimed to the Nara.

"Huh? What's going on here?" Shikamaru fumbled, now confused more than ever.

"I knew there had to be a good reason," Temari told her brothers, voice full of relief.

Her now relaxed nature was assuring but it still left Shikamaru clearly befuddled.

"Shikamaru," Gaara said coolly, clearing his throat to avoid laughing out loud. "Sending a cactus to someone is bad luck here in Suna," he informed him. "The guards prevented its delivery to Temari, and took this picture of it, carefully keeping it outside and sending the card immediately to me for inspection. As you can imagine, a Konoha delivery of a wish for bad luck was quite a shock and easily sparked up the rumor mill."

 _Bad luck?_ Shikamaru was speechless.

"This is hilarious," Temari snorted, shaking her head. "Who knew your lazy foreign butt could drum up this much drama?" she teased.

"Dude, next time just say the words!" Kankuro advised standing and laughing all the way to the door.

 _Geez, leave it up to the Hokage's advisor to nearly set off an international incident!_ Shikamaru chastised himself. Lucky for him, this meeting got to the bottom of things before things were thoroughly misunderstood.

"Heh, accept my apology?" Shikamaru asked his love sheepishly, now clearly embarrassed with his oversight.

"Hmmm," Temari dragged on the silence then cracked a smile. "All right, Nara. You're off the hook this time, but in the future, how about you be a little less creative?" she told him, moving closer to snake her arms around him, and leaning in for a tender kiss.

Shikamaru's cheeks brightened and wordlessly, he simply nodded his agreement.

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 **Author's note:**

It was too tempting to put Shikamaru in a situation where he overlooked an obvious fact.

Different superstitions often come from different parts of the world, and since Shikamaru and Temari are from two different Villages of the Narutoverse, I wanted to try out my first story of the year with the misinterpretations that can happen when that is so.

Fun fact: A cactus does indeed represent endurance and in some parts of the world, but there are also parts of the world that have a superstition that believes it brings bad luck.

Thank you to BloodPokemon101, Emma Raye, Fxreflies, mississippimudpiecraves, MLLu, naash, outloux, Pixie07, wingedmercury, and Yengirl for your participation in this challenge and of course your wonderful support of the Fanfiction Review Movement.

To everyone else, I hope you'll share your feedback in the form of a review to the many stories that have touched and entertained you.

For now this story is complete, but if I ever get the inspiration for a follow up, maybe I'll consider continuing.

Enjoy the rest of International Flower Day and here's sending you a virtual yellow rose if you review!

 **7-20-2019 update** : All thanks to your feedback, I decided to add to this story. Please note, the second chapter will officially be a part of my 2019 Show Me the Love Proposals Challenge. That said, can you guess where this is going?


	2. Chapter 2: The lesson learned

Disclaimer: Naruto and its characters belong to Masashi Kishimoto

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Hopefully this doesn't lead to confusion but this second chapter will be a part of my 2019 Summer Show Me the Love Proposals Challenge. It can be read on it's own, or better yet as a follow up to the previous chapter. Please note, I had to change the ending of the first chapter a little to fit the plot of the second, but nothing major was revised.

To all: For easy reference, entries to this year's Summer 2019 Show Me the Love Proposals Challenge will be added to my C2 account as soon as I am notified of their posts. Thank you to: BloodPokemon101, Fxreflies, Lady Rini, MLLu, naash, outloux, Pandasushiroll, Pixie07, RushiAei, and Yengirl for joining me for this challenge. I encourage all of you to see what stories they have to share, and of course, to spread the positive constructive review. With that said, onto chapter two...

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Several months had gone by, and courting Temari from such a long distance was becoming quite cumbersome. He loved her. There was no doubt of that. Occasionally they argued, sure, but it was mainly lighthearted banter with an occasional spar to let off steam. Honestly, he couldn't imagine loving anyone else, and now that another year had passed, he steeled himself ready to finally act with his heart, instead of his head. It took some doing, but he was finally able to arrange for a spur of the moment visit to the Village Hidden in the Sand to do something he had been contemplating on (but chickening out of) for the past few months. Family and friends had boisterously hinted at it, and he supposed all the talk had finally worn him down.

Foregoing all the unnecessary stops, the Nara arrived early to his destination and made a quick purchase at a well known Suna flower shop. Without wasting time, he checked into the nearest Inn and freshly showered. Purposely putting in a little extra effort into looking his best, he then made his way over to Temari's childhood home, all the while going over 'the plan'. His Ma had recommended keeping things simple, and after his last fiasco, he easily agreed. The large bouquet of red roses in hand were recommended by Ino and from one of the best local florists. There was no way flowers brought from Konoha could hold up on the trip, and "fresh was the only way to go," according to his blonde teammate. Of course, before paying for his purchase, Shikamaru wisely made sure that the red roses he bought stood for 'true love' in Suna as well as in Konoha.

Silently he reassured himself today was going to be special and there would be no mistakes with any unforeseen mixed messages. Nervously, he checked his pocket and his lips upturned when his fingers felt for the small velvet box. Satisfied, the Nara went over what he was going to say once more. Shikamaru knew he wasn't too good with words or verbalizing his emotions, but with Ino's assurance of guaranteed success, he was swayed into believing this plan of hers was the most direct and least troublesome.

Taking a moment to calm his last minute jitters, he recalled his last conversation with his blonde friend. _"Oh my gosh, Shikamaru! Finally. F-i-n-a-l-l-y!"_ she had squealed with delight. _"This is going to be the most memorable proposal ever, if you just stay on task,"_ she scolded, knowing how prone her friend was at dilly dallying around this topic _. "Remember, keep things simple, look your best, and under no circumstances should you forget the flowers. Remember, they'll practically speak for themselves, and take it from me, I just know with those in hand, there's no way she will say 'no,'" she further declared._ And coupled with having been tortured with all the cheesy romances she insisted he watch, and enduring the unrelenting flak from family and friends for dragging his feet on the matter, for better or for worse, replaying her last assurance in his head, stroked his confidence and provided the certainty he needed to finally take the leap.

Inhaling one last deep breath, he quickly rapped at the door to the Sabaku residence. As the seconds passed though, the gravity of what he was doing began to hit him, and a case of cold feet started to creep in.

 _Hold up a minute_ his brain warned him. _Was he sure about this? And if so, was now the right time?_ That thought made him pause. _Had he really thought things through?_

Even though he had reviewed this 'plan' countless times and resolved he was ready, as the door opened, somehow Shikamaru's nerves took over and managed to short circuit his brain! He willed his body to kneel down on one knee, but he suddenly forgot the whole of what he was going to say! In his panic he closed his eyes tightly, and instead of saying what he'd practiced, he thrust out the bouquet of roses hoping its message alone would be enough. _Ino had promised they would, right?_ He knew Temari might be expecting a proposal sometime soon. If anything, his botched 'almost' attempts twice before would have clued her in. She was a smart girl, he kept telling himself, and he just hoped she would gather what was going on.

"Oh," a very masculine voice spoke up in surprise. "It's only you," it said, playfully, causing the Nara's head to snap up.

Smirking, the puppet master teased, "Gosh, Shikamaru, you really shouldn't have," with an over-exaggerated girly voice.

Red crept up his neck as Shikamaru scrambled to feet.

"I love you too," Kankuro winked, then gleefully grabbed the bouquet from his hands, and smacked him on the side of the head, "but I think Temari would be jealous if I returned your affections." A single rose fell to the floor as he chuckled at the stunned Nara, but soon both Shinobi froze in their spots when they heard a feminine voice approaching.

"Hey Kankuro, what's all the commotion about?" the voice questioned as she came into view. Upon seeing Shikamaru, she stilled. Her usually casually dressed boyfriend was almost unrecognizable, cleaned up nicely, and standing at her doorstep, grabbing for a bouquet of roses that were just manhandled by her brother.

Deviously, Kankuro held the roses out of Shikamaru's reach and whispered, "Okay Nara. Time to say the words," and with that, he ran off with the bouquet. "See ya, sis," a laughing Kankuro spat back.

With no bouquet to hide behind, a dumbstruck Shikamaru stood before Temari with his mouth still open. Practiced plans just flew out the window, but being that he just ran three days from Konoha and soon had to head back, he knew couldn't afford to waste this trip. Honestly, it was now or never. Sucking in a breath, the Shadow Wielder knelt down again and swallowed his embarrassment as he leaned over to pick up the single rose on the ground. Reaching for Temari's hand he cut straight to the point. "Sebaku Temari, I..."

And wouldn't you know it? At that key moment, his mind again chose to go blank! Frustrated, he shook his head.

"Troublesome," he mumbled but straightened when he saw the look in her eye. _Do this right_ , he reprimanded himself. _C'mon, man up, Shikamaru._ Isn't that what Ino had said? "Temari, I...heh..." he laughed sheepishly. "You know I love you."

 _Argghhhhh._ He wanted to smack himself. What was up with him today? _Don't act stupid, Nara_ he chastised himself. Shikamaru looked her in the eye, took in another breath, then held out the single rose from the ground. "I know it's troublesome, but well...?" he asked, barely remaining composed and hoping she would read between the lines.

"Well, what?" Temari countered, knowing exactly what he was trying to say but purposely dragging it out. She was frustrated after getting her hopes up for a proposal a few times before with nothing resulting in the end, and she was NOT going to let him off the hook this time.

Shikamaru could hear the tease in her voice but despite great effort, he found he could only stare at the beautiful woman in front of him. "Uh..." _Just great, he was proving he was not only whipped but he could be reduced to nothing more than a bumbling tongue-tied fool when she was present!_

The silence stretched, and when nothing else was said, Temari sighed loudly and stomped away, mumbling something to herself. When she didn't return immediately, his heart began to pound and the intense worry made his stomach churn. Things were going nothing like planned, and left alone with the engagement ring and no Temari, panic was closing in on him, big time!

The Sand Princess was really only gone a few minutes but nervous perspiration already started to pepper his forehead, and inner doubt managed to seize its grip on him. _Gads. This was all wrong. Wrong. Wrong! What was he doing?_ He questioned himself. _Maybe he wasn't ready. Heck, maybe she wasn't ready._ At that point, he wanted the ground to swallow him whole and yet, still no words came to him. His tongue and brain seemed to be disconnected. All he could do was stare at the beauty in front of him.

"Nara, it sounds like you're interested in having me be a permanent fixture in your life," Temari joked.

That instantly got his attention. Stunned by her accuracy, he felt for the little velvet box in his pocket and nodded dumbly.

"Shadow possession got your tongue again?" She grinned.

It was frustrating that the person standing before the green-eyed beauty was nothing like man he usually was. On a daily basis, the strategist conversed with intelligent speech, and that IQ of his allowed him to be steps ahead of his opponents with a plan for every idiosyncrasy that altered said plan. It was beyond comprehension, but somehow, whenever romantic feelings with Temari were involved, all that simply went out the window. He supposed that was why all of their other friends, including even Sasuke and Sakura, were already engaged or married, yet the two of them were still only at the dating stage.

When nothing more was said, Temari crossed her arms and huffed in irritation. "I love your sorry butt, but..." She frowned and waited, but when he said nothing she complained, "Argggh, for crying out loud, Shikamaru, I give up!"

His eyes immediately widened. _Wait. What?_

"Give up?" he suddenly questioned and snapped to his senses.

"Yeah," she agreed. "This..." she gestured between them. "This is ridiculous, don't you think?" When nothing further was said she continued. "C'mon Shikamaru, I can't stand this anymore! I'm ready to move on!" She burst out.

At first he said nothing, but as he slowly processed her words, a frown appeared on his face. _Wait. Give up?_ his stomach suddenly dropped and he went pale. _Huh? Did Temari just say... 'move on?'_ His heart rate sped up as he tried to make sense of her words. _Move on?..._ He tried desperately tried to wrap his head around her words as his mind raced to keep up. _NO way. Was she serious?_ Shikamaru stood there in disbelief hoping he'd misheard. _Gads, she couldn't possibly mean... Could she?_ All this time he was sure Temari mirrored his feelings but just now it sounded like _..._ His eyebrows creased. _Oh man._ _Was she?...Was Temari giving up on him?_ All at once, the Nara's world started to spin. _This..this couldn't be happening. There was no way she was insinuating they should break up, right? They were meant for each other. This was..._ He panicked. Insecurity surfaced as disbelief overtook his senses. Scrambling he knew he had to do something.

"Stop!" he suddenly burst out.

"No!" she said with finality. "I've been through this too many times before. I think you're going to ask me to marry you and then that big brain of yours gets to overthinking and you retract your plans. This is pitiful! Enough's enough. It's time to move on!"

He started to tremble as his eyes grew wide at her declaration. _Oh no!_ _No. No. No. No._ This couldn't be happening. _Temari was leaving him? For real?_ There was no contingency in the plan for this, not even in his wildest nightmares.

"This is it," she said firmly, with a resolve that meant business.

 _Wait._ _ **This**_ _. Is. It?_ he gulped and could hardly believe what he was hearing. _How?_ Tears began to well in his eyes. The love of his life was actually breaking up with him before he even had a chance to propose. It was unbelievable! He'd finally met _**the one**_ _._ She was troublesome, totally non-conventional, and got him going despite his laziness. Yes. But she was tender and loving beneath that tough exterior, the perfect complement to his lazy self to balance things out. All at once his breathing became labored _._ His heart hammered on and the rush of his own blood pulsing filled his ears. He had envisioned Temari would be his lifelong partner. She already was his everything. His stomach coiled tight and he didn't even realize there were tears streaming down his face or the fact that Temari was kneeling down before him.

"Nara Shikamaru, you will marry me, right?" she announced, popping open a small box out she pulled from her sleeve that contained a ring for him. At that point, he almost wanted to scream, 'No!' until her words started to register.

 _Wait. What?_ Rubbing his eyes to clear his vision, time froze and he tried to process what was going on. _Temari was leaving him. Wait. No. That wasn't quite right. Temari was... Wait? Did she just ask him to marry her?_

"Well?" She questioned back.

Dumbfounded, the Shadow Wielder stood there with his mouth hung open. Thoughts were jumbled together but when his brain caught up to what was going on, he scrambled not to lose this chance. "Yes," he blurted, shocked and relieved all at once.

Smiling, she teased, "You're asking for trouble you know."

Watching him swipe at his tears of happiness she added, "Geez, you're such a crybaby."

He almost choked on his snort as he nodded. Whether it was meant he conceded as accepting her as trouble or being a crybaby, it wasn't clear.

She plucked a gold ring out of a box she produced from her sleeve and slipped it onto his left ring finger.

"It's too late to back out now. You're officially mine," she smirked.

"Temari," he closed his eyes in relief, exhaling sharply. "Thank you," he breathed, overwhelmed with it all.

Before his brain could catch up, Temari, led him inside to the foyer of her home and moved to open one of the drawers in the console table. Riffling through it, she found what she needed, scribbled a note, and took out a small camera. Setting the timer and placing the camera on the console, she retrieved the rose on the ground, and pulled her glassy-eyed, disheveled fiance in for a memorable picture.

"Say cheese," she said, and just like that, Shikamaru and she smiled for the camera, as she held up the sign 'He said yes,' and with the single red rose behind her ear.

In the moments that followed, the reality of their engagement eventually hit, and Shikamaru followed in her lead, reaching into his own pocket to procure the small velvet box. Kneeling down on one knee, he popped it open and carefully removed a Nara heirloom engagement ring to place it on her left ring finger. Clearing his throat he finally spoke. "For you," he announced. The act was sort of cheesy after all that had transpired but she smiled and accepted all the same.

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Of course, hours later (and he really should have known), things done this way would have an uncanny ability of worming their way into the gossip mill, and despite great efforts to hide it, even without the internet, the whole incident would become a well known story both in Suna and Konoha. The totally non-conventional proposal that flipped things on it's head was nothing like he had rehearsed, but the Shadow Wielder took it in stride, and it became a funny and memorable one to laugh at and love.

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Added story epilogue:

And for those who were wondering, you'd be correct in assuming there was indeed a silver lining to this all:

After settling in with each other, post wedding, starting from his very first anniversary and every year thereafter, whenever Ino would badger him and try to get him to come to her shop to get flowers for his wife, Shikamuru would wisely remain silent and offer up a simple shrug. And to his credit, instead of going through all the hoopla of expressing his feelings with a grand bouquet of flowers, partaking in dramatic gestures, or any other over the top romantic arrangement suggested, he ultimately concluded that his best 'plan' was really just to stick with the simple truth, using three beloved words any woman would want to hear:

 **I**

 **Love**

 **You**.

And reward his beloved Sand Princess with his own personalized heartfelt actions to express the deep love he had for her in the privacy of their own home. And who would have known? Even the infamous Nara was able to finally learn, it was ultimately those simple words and actions that actually did the trick, hassle-free and with the best results.

~The End

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Man, what an amazing brother-in-law that Kankuro is. I mean, who knew he could be such a great matchmaker and bearer of love advice? Just kidding. I have to admit, I'm curious, how many of you out there have taken love advice or any other crucial advice from a well-meaning friend and have it go very wrong? I realize things like that are never fun but I hope it was something you could look back later and laugh at.

Thank you again to everyone who participated in this Summer's challenge. You are amazing! Happy reading, writing, and reviewing to everyone out there, and I hope if you're a new or established reader and made it this far you'll continue to support the reviewing process and leave feedback to inspire better writing and sharing stories on this site.

~Fanofthisfiction


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